by James D. Bentham

Created on: August 17, 2010

As emotional beings, we often make the mistake of projecting onto things properties which they do not possess. Instead of using reason, we give in to our impulses; we make the wrong decisions. They're not the wrong decisions because things can't work out despite making them, but because they were made based on poor judgment. The truth is, abortion is always OK if you need one.

We kill animals, plants and insects all the time without losing sleep over it; living things. We think it's OK to perpetrate death on all species, but make one exception: our own. We hear of something human and, without thinking, assume we can relate to it because we are also human. We feel we can empathize with the unborn baby; we think, "if i were that unborn child, I wouldn't want to feel any pain or die!" But one cannot empathize with the unborn, because the unborn do not think or feel. They do not feel any pain and they do not oppose death; they are categorically unconscious. You'd have a much easier time empathizing with the chicken someone is killing so you can eat your chicken salad or McNuggets tomorrow.

People also like to cite potential as the reason why abortion is not ok. But an argument for potential is only ever a potential argument. That is, if all the reasons why you oppose something are reasons that could potentially manifest (e.g., potential intelligence, potential feelings, potential creativity, etc.), then this means they are currently not manifest and thus are not real in the here and now. A one-night stand has the potential to lead to the birth of the next president of the United States of America, but we usually don't cry over children not conceived, despite there being ample potential to conceive them. Potential arguments are just that, potential arguments; they are immaterial.

Religious people (i.e., Christians in the USA) make up a large portion of the crowd that opposes abortions. Oddly enough, the bible is not an anti-abortion document at all. In fact, one passage would have us believe that the unborn are not even alive. In Exodus 21:22-24, there is talk of a man being punished for causing a woman to miscarry; only when the woman is harmed does the "life for life, eye for eye" rule apply. The harm done to the unborn child is not relevant to the man's punishment, because unborn life was never treated like born life in the bible. Besides, would God put a soul into a baby he knew would get aborted? Of course not; that'd be cruel, wouldn't it?

Finally, we have the Constitution, guaranteeing the right to privacy, and thus the right for a woman to govern her body and what resides therein. Women are not slaves, their bodies are their bodies. The unborn child is part of that body the woman has authority over. People oppose abortions because the unborn cannot survive being separated from the woman's body, yet they claim it is a separate body; this is a contradiction. Women have this right in the USA, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

Abortions are always OK if you need them. Don't let anyone trick you into abandoning reason to appeal to someone's emotional attachment to things they feel they can relate to. Have a child when you know you are ready. Until then, don't hesitate to procure the safe, legal abortion to which every woman is entitled.

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